Need some advice on a Land Plane build

[woodlandfarms]

I have a rough idea of what I intend to build... Just a rip of everyone else's design. But here is my dilemma. I have a 65HP fully hydraulic tractor so figure the actual HP at the wheels equates to a 35 / 40HP tractor. ground engagement is not its strength with 8 wheels. But it works well enough that I can run a 72" Woods heavy duty boxblade and it only becomes an issue when the box blade gets full. Meaning I stop forward motion on slopes if the box blade gets very stuffed up. I have hooked things with the box blade and the tractor does come to a complete stop.

So in designing this land plane, I have a dilemma. How wide should it be. My tractor is 94" wide. I would love to build an 8 foot landplane to cover my tracks. But the last thing I want to do is build something that I cannot pull. So do I go 6ft (i am sure I can pull this) 7ft as my gut is telling me, or 8foot and take the risk? The only thing that gets me with the box blade is when the gravel gets very build up, so I am assuming gravel going over the top of the rails makes for less friction?

Second, all my implements fit up front. I am thinking about pulling this plane, so I am thinking of a trailer hitch setup instead of a quick attach and driving backwards. I would use wheels on a electro/hydraulic ram to lift the machine above ground level when transporting. So my questions are is this possible (towing a land plane as opposed to being attached to a 3point) I can't see any reason it would not work but just checking to make sure I am not missing anything. Also, I would like to set it up so my neighbors can use it with there pickup trucks.

 

[Willie B]

I've given it a lot of thought, without making much progress. I expect a land plane to do a better job of knowing where to quit. Box blades tend to follow the rear wheels as they drop into holes. To a lesser degree, the front wheels of the tractor can cause them to dig in or lose all their gravel. My idea for a land plane is just that a plane. A wood plane whether hand powered or motorized involves a large flat surface, the blade being near the middle. Beginning with rough wood, the first passes only cut the high spots. In wood we take away everything protruding until we have a plane. With earth we take off the top material protruding from the plane, and dump the high spots into the low spots. Nothing is wasted. I believe you want at least two long flat "skis", turned up at one end to prevent digging in. It seems more than two would work. I'm not sure about that. Lateral cutting edges 1 thru 4 of them would run perpendicular. Experiments suggest a tongue at least 1/2 the width of the tractor T shaped as opposed to A frame would be a little safer. When turning sharp, the tongue can hit the back tire. I haven't seen it on rubber tires, they might slip, my father told of a man with an iron wheeled tractor catching and killing himself. Something to keep in mind. The tongue should hinge at the connection with the land plane.

Soil conditions will make a difference, as it hits rock it will hop up, dumping any soil. Sod, to a lesser degree will tend to do the same. If you only cut shallow 8 or 9 feet of width should work

 

[FredH]

Two pictures of the one I built last year . 8' wide by roughly 9' long . I pull it behind my Tc 30 HST 4 wheel drive . 800' of driveway that starts out flat for the first third then starts up to a maximum of nearly 13% grade . Blades are set as follows . Front blade , end closest to the camera is .5" below side skid while opposite end is .25" above skid . Rear blade is set with farthest end from camera set .25" below side skid while end closest to camera is .5" above side skid . As I start down driveway , I go to right side as I am facing downhill , thus blades pull gravel from edge feathering it towards center , then rear blade slightly feathers it back maybe 1/2 way towards edge of road . Get to bottom and turn around then going up , I again hang right , doing the same .

Blades are nothing fancy , .5" x 6" flat steel , bolted to 3" x 3" x 5/16" angle . Pass down , pass back up , Crushed Blue shale is now flat , graded and smooth .

Tractor has no issue since any excess will roll over blades unlike a box blade that just loads up . First Time I used it , Did pull a lot of shale both uphill and down , but it is not like it keeps loading up rather after a certain point it will eventually start rolling over the baldes .

Fred H.

 

[bcp]

Second, all my implements fit up front. I am thinking about pulling this plane, so I am thinking of a trailer hitch setup instead of a quick attach and driving backwards.

They can be pushed or tongue-pulled. Here is just one company's versions:

Front mount:
SSHA Series DuraGrader for Skid Steers

Tongue pulled:
TP

Bruce